


The Confrontation

by duchessduchie



Category: The Royals (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, Family Dynamics, Missing Scene, Mother-Son Relationship, One Shot, Post episode 4x07
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 15:02:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15197321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duchessduchie/pseuds/duchessduchie
Summary: Robert discovers who was behind the internet trolls and the press attack of Willow. Missing scene between 4x07 and 4x08.





	The Confrontation

**Author's Note:**

> Other than Willow/Robert scenes, my favorite scenes are between Robert and the Queen. This is a little one-shot I wrote to explain the change in the Queen’s attitude towards Willow between 4x07 and the bachelorette/hen party in 4x08. It also my attempt to explain why the Queen became #kingliam.

Robert stormed down the Palace hall. Robert was livid after reading Mr. Hill’s report on who was responsible for the internet leak and attack on Willow. The identity of the culprit surprised and irritated Robert. He expected Cassandra to be behind it, not his mother. 

Robert entered his mother’s chambers. She was discussing a charity event with Rachel. Robert bit the inside of his cheek to control his rage as he gave the two women a polite smile. “Rachel, if you could please give us a minute.” Robert refused to air his family’s dirty laundry before the staff unlike the other members of his family. 

Rachel nodded her head, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

His mother gave him a curious look. “Something the matter?”

Robert did not see the point of beating around the bush with his mother. “I know you were behind the internet trolls, Mother.”

The corner of the Queen’s mouth lifted. The trolls Rachel hired on the Queen’s direction did an excellent job. The Queen’s favorite comment was #ShePutsThePiglnPygmalion.

“I also know you gave the press free range to be aggressive. You were supposed to ask them to hold it back,” Robert calmly stated. His mother should be supporting his marriage, not undermining it.

“I haven’t the faintest idea what you are talking about,” replied his mother in a tone that implied that she knew exactly what he was talking about. 

Robert again bit the inside of his cheek in an effort to keep his face impassive at his mother’s blatant lie. It would not be good to allow his mother to know her actions upset him. “Willow has done nothing but be kind to you.” Willow did not deserve any of what occurred with the press or public. The troll attacks and leaks were suspicious which is why Robert ordered an investigation into it. 

“She called me old,” sneered the Queen. 

Robert’s eye’s narrowed. He did not have time for his mother’s petty feud. Willow called his mother’s approach old, not his mother old. Robert knew better than try and argue semantics with his mother.“That justifies this media blemish on the monarchy?”

“Scared of what may come out about dear Willow?”A sly smile appeared on the Queen’s face. 

Robert paused and returned his mother’s smile with a sly smile of his own. She was trying to upset Robert, and he refused to give his mother what she wanted. Confidently he told her, “Not in the least. The worst you could find, you released.” Robert did his due diligence on Willow before placing her name on the top of his list. He knew Willow was not a liability but an asset to his rule. “Willow apologized for any slight that you may have felt. I want you to put an end to your one-sided feud.”

“She needs to learn her place.” Willow needed to suffer a bit more for refusing the Queen’s help. Not that the Queen would offer it at this point, especially not for her ungrateful pissant of a son. 

Robert was growing exasperated with his mother. One minute she is telling him he needed to marry, and the next she was acting like she didn’t want him to marry. He needed a united and untarnished family. The public expected it. “I will not allow you to tarnish the monarchy more than you already have.”

The Queen raised one eyebrow as she coldly asked, “Allow me?” She was outraged that her son spoke to her as if she was a child. Robert needed to remember his place in the family. “I am your mother!”

“And I am _King_ ,” retorted Robert. His family continuously failed to respect his status. His voice dropped low as he informed his mother, “Willow will be my Queen, and you will give her your full support.” He was fed up with his mother not supporting him and choosing his siblings above him.

“And if I don’t?” Challenged the Queen.

Robert’s mouth set in a hard line, “Fall in line, or you can join Cyrus.” 

“You can’t do that,” dismissed the Queen. 

“I can and I will,” Robert would remove anyone that stood in his way. 

“What will the people say?” The monarchy ruled because the people allowed it. A King that failed to yield to the will of the people lost his head. Just ask Charles I.

“I doubt they will even miss you.” His mother taught him how to be cruel, so he did what she taught him.“You are just the philandering whore of a queen who didn’t even know who fathered two of her children.” As much as his mother loathed the idea, she wanted to be loved by the public, even if they did not love her.

The Queen went to slap Robert, but he caught her arm before she could follow through.

“I excused your behavior on the day of my coronation and your birthday. I will not do it again.” Robert would not forget the humiliation of his mother shoving him during his first few minutes. Nor will he forget how his mother treated him on her birthday in front of Willow. He was done with his mother’s behavior. Robert haughtily told his mother, “I am building a better monarchy. You can choose to be apart of it or not.”

The Queen pulled her arm free. She seethed in anger. “Does building better monarchy including that include using me? How dare you blackmail someone with photos of me and not tell me!” How could she have raised a son like that? She thought her son understood the importance of respect and loyalty. His actions showed her otherwise. So much for his promise that he was a good man, noble king, and a son she could be proud of. 

Realization flashed across Robert's face. The Queen found out about the blackmail photos. “Are you upset with the fact that I used you to eliminate a potential threat to the throne or that I failed to inform you of my plan?” He did not see what she was so upset about. His mother had used her wiles on countless other men. She even boasted about it. Robert would never allow the photos to be released. It would look bad for the monarchy. 

The Queen’s eyes blazed at her son’s blasé reaction to his betrayal of her. “Never disrespect me in such a fashion again.” She threatened. “That was badly done, son.” Liam would never have done something like that to her.“Consider what I did to Willow a warning.”

Willow was beside herself for days because of his mother’s action. Robert would not allow his mother to go after Willow when his mother was angry at him. “If you have an issue with me mother, don’t go after my wife.”

“She’s not your wife yet,” scoffed the Queen. “So much can happen between now and the wedding.”

Robert had no intentions of allowing anything to come between Willow and him. “Is that a threat mother?”

“Just a reminder.” 

“Len is throwing Willow a hen spa day today. I expect you there. Your ‘feud’ with Willow is officially over. I have a country to run.”Robert turned his back on his mother and moved to leave but was stopped by her comment. 

There was nothing the Queen could do at the moment, but she was not going to go down without a fight, “You’ll never be as great as your father.” 

Robert knew she was lashing out to hurt him, but it did not stop the comment from stinging him and cause his anger to boil. Everything he did since his return from the island was to prove his father wrong. Robert was going to be the greatest King in England’s history.He turned to face the Queen. Robert tampered his anger down before replying to his mother. “No. I will be greater than him.” Robert was the most powerful English monarch since Charles I. “I already am.”

The moment the Queen heard her son’s comment she knew he was no noble king but a tyrant. She needed to do what is necessary to protect the monarchy. It was time to remove Robert from the throne. “I actually feel bad for Willow. She has no idea of the type of man she is marrying.”

Willow knew the man he was. Robert was going to be that man when circumstances allowed him. He gave his mother a mocking smile,“I love you too mother.” 

\- - -

Still smarting from his confrontation with his mother, Robert went to the one person who calmed and soothed him. As soon as he entered Willow’s office, she greeted him with a warm smile as she looked up from her iPad. Robert couldn’t help but grin back at her as he made his way over to her. 

“This is an unexpected surprise. I thought that you had a meeting with the Minister of Education?” 

Robert sat down next to Willow and extended his arm behind her along sofa top. “No, it was rescheduled.” Or Robert presumed it was. He decided to confront his mother instead.

Willow’s brows knitted together. Robert was smiling, but it didn’t reach his eyes, “Did something happen?”

“No,” quickly denied Robert. He couldn’t help but note that Willow was too perceptive sometimes. In an effort to distract Willow, he gave her a charming smile and told her, “I just needed to see you.”Robert pulled her a little closer. He was rattled by his mother’s comment that the wedding would not occur. Robert glanced down on to see what she was looking at on her screen before he entered. “Are you still looking at the old comments and news reports?”

“I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help it,” confessed Willow as she hugged her iPad to her chest. 

“I understand, but I think you should let it all go.” Robert grabbed the iPad from Willow’s and placed it on the table. “In the next few days it will all blow over, and the haters will love you just as much as I do.”

“Really?” asked a hopeful Willow. 

“I am sure of it,” whispered Robert against Willow’s lips as he leaned in for a searing kiss. He would deal with his mother if not. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
